Staying and Eating at Gleneagles

Why Gleneagles?

When we first decided to do a Scottish Trip I asked Drew if he had anywhere particular he would like to go. There were only two requirements:

                     (a) A cottage near a loch out on a island 

                     (b) Gleneagles

I understood the first request, we have long enjoyed somewhat desolate places e.g. Service Creek in Oregon or Pouch Cove in Newfoundland, but the second came as a surprise. I had heard of Gleneagles and was vaguely aware that they had golf competitions there but I knew nothing else. 

It seems Drew had read about the place in an online chat room of which he is a member and decided then that he would choose to go there if traveling in Scotland, as he now has. All I can say is Good Choice.

The Reception at Gleneagles 

We were greeted at reception with an outline of what was available:

• Three Golf Courses
• Falconry - including falcon training
• Shooting - Guns, Clay Pidgin and Archery
• Learning to train Gun Dogs
• Off-road vehicles for hire
• Full sized Swimming Pool
• Croquet and Squash courts
• Tennis courts
• Country walks including a woodland walk

Given that range of options, and our non-sporting nature a woodland walk it was. The route lasted two and a half hours and included a short-cut through one of the golf courses. It was a peaceful walk with deer, rabbits and game birds running freely through the woods. It included a short-cut through one of the golf courses, with an amusing warning sign. 

Eating at Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles

For my part, once it was decided we were going to Gleneagles I had opted to book a table at Andrew Fairlie's eponymous restaurant here.

We arrived at Andrew Fairlie's at 7.15 and were quickly led to our table. The dining room here is kept to a very high standard with lovely oak walling and comfortable, almost settee type chairs in which to luxuriate.

The table settings were all specially made, with Andrew's name on all of them. Even the glasses were very special - Milan made glass, with decorations which were each different from each other and very pretty indeed.

There were 20 waiting staff in a room that could accommodate about 50 people - it seemed that most of them served us at one point or another during the evening. There was a softly spoken Scottish man who did our main serving and a French Canadian who regularly topped up our glasses.

We had no doubt that we were going to take the Disgustation Menu, to get the range of flavours this chef could achieve.

Once we had selected the menu and discussed our preferences with the waiter the first of the amuse boche arrived. This was a very tasty glace cracker with ham and a tiny turned turnip (as Drew said they should have called it a neep!). The crispness of the cracker with its salty but meaty tasted worked well with the lightly cut ham, the turnip was tiny, and I could imagine had taken someone hours to shape so carefully, taking the skin off but leaving the stalk on can't be easy, gave a nice crunchy vegetable texture to the whole dish.

Our second amuse was a Black Pudding Bon Bon, this in no way explains what it actually was. I like black pudding and have had black pudding spiced in different ways in Yorkshire, Scotland, Ireland and at home, but never one that had so much richness of flavour as this one. The normal pepper hear was there, but also more subtle flavours that brought the best out of the pudding. I could try to describe the mix of herbs in it, but I would probably fail. Whatever they were they lifted the humble black pudding into something I had to close my eyes to eat, so that my tastebuds could enjoy the experience of almost being overpowered.

Our third amuse was a pretty dish. One clean, almost shaped Spinach Leaf with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese on top. Again when I say Spinach, salmon and cheese I think I know what I should expect, but not hear, the way the crisp leaf engaged with the smoky, perhaps I would say peaty salmon could only be tasted to believe. The cheese acted as a creamy but astringent accompaniment. Like many of these dishes trying to eat element separately wouldn't work, the performance, the achievement is the flavour achieved by the mix of items and their textures.

Just when we thought we might be moving to the menu proper yet another amuse arrived. This was Courgette Set Custard with Parmesan espuma and a dusting of cayenne pepper served in an egg shell. Yes I did say courgette custard, this solid (white of egg like) substance was clearly courgette, but courgette cooked into a creamy loveliness that responded to the spoon, and the tongue, just like a boiled egg white. The espuma on the top was parmesan turned into a liquid and then foamed, the full flavour of parmesan was there and the whole thing made the mouth tingle and jump with joy was the light dusting of cayenne. Again a masterpiece of combination of very different, and unexpected flavour combinations.

We were then offered bread as the main elements of the menu were about to arrive. There was a choice of rye or white and I opted for the first, as I like that strong flavour in my bread. It was as nice as one would expect in a place like this.

Our first dish from the main menu was a Ballotine of Foie Gras, peach and almond milk with a Brioche Toast and a liquid Foie Gras bon bon. The Foie Gras was rich and pungent, with a very smooth texture, it went very well with the lovely little bits of toast and the peach sauce with micro herbs picked from the hotel's gardens gave a nice crispness to accompany the Foie Gras, which can be too rich for some, with the peach balancing the richness it was excellent. Though this part of the dish was excellent the real gem for me was the liquid liver bon bon, yes you did read those words. The liver that had done into the Foie Gras has also been liquidised and placed within a bon bon. This had to be eaten whole, or it would have been a bit messy. When eaten like this it became a bomb of intense flavour in the mouth - wow, wow and wow.

The next dish was right at the heart of the celebration of Scotland in which Andrew Fairlie specialises. It was a roast Langoustine on a bed of crab with white cucumber and cucamelon, yes that is a real word - the hybrid of a cucumber and a melon, grown by the restaurant's team is a tiny little thing you can see on each side of the plate - top up on the left and inside up on the right - they have a very gentle taste of a somewhat tangy cucumber.

The next fish course was Stone Bass, a relative of the more famous sea bass, on a bed of fennel with an endive side salad. The Stone Bass had the most crispy sin I had ever taste on a fish, that with the soft gentle cooked flesh made it a master stroke of cooking. I'm sure if I tried it would have softer skin or over cooked fish, but this was perfect in both extents. I like the flavour of sea bass and this was very similar in taste, the fennel underneath had taken on some of the fish juices and was amazingly soft, it went down very well indeed. The salad provided crunch and texture rather than too much additional flavour, but it was lovely. 

The best dish of the night for me was the next dish. Though it sounds very simple its wonderful flavours and great surprises were truly excellent. It was called Ayshire Royals with mint volute which sounds simple. It was indeed simple but it was rich in flavour. It included lovely tiny new Ayrshire potatoes with mayo, foraged herbs and edible flowers which the rich volute was poured over. Next a chunk of black truffle appeared and plenty over it was shaved over the dish. I think the surprise for me was eating the intense mint taste of the volute and then coming across a warm baby potato. I'd assumed they would be like salad potatoes, served cold. So the surprise of the warmth, and the way it inter-played with the volute was, yet again in this place, a special treat for the palate.  

The next course was home smoked local lobster with a warm lime and herb butter. The lobster had been cooked until tender and then replaced in the shell, so that every bit of it was edible, the sharpness of the lime, not only made the rich butter less fatty in texture but also made the whole dish something different from lobster in butter. A fresh tanginess that showed even more inventiveness and high quality, diner centric, cooking.

With a palate refreshed by the lime it was time for the main meat course. What else could it be, surrounded as we were by deer in the hotel grounds but roast Loin of Highland Roe Deer with a game bon bon and turnip on crowdie cheese. The deer was cooked rare with a good ring of bloodiness in the middle, this treatment made it tender and easy to eat. The deer was served on a bed of cabbage. The sharp cheese alongside was, for me, even more appealing than the jus as a compliment with the lovely piece of venison. The bon bon was haunch meat cooked in pork fat to stop the long cooking from drying it out. It was lovely and the mix of pork and venison went very well indeed. The mix gave the bon bon a soft tenderness which was very easy to eat. 

The next dish was Frozen Goat's Cheese Parfait with Apricot. When reviewing the menu I had looked at this and thought that it would be a dessert which I would hand over to Drew, but checking if it could be done without the honey that the menu suggested meant I took the risk of having it without honey, Drew had a honey version. Goat's cheese is a flavour you either love or hate, I love it. It is a strong, in your face cheese, and it worked well between the two crisp parmesan crackers and was not sweet, which I wouldn't like, but was very intensely cheesy with the wafers adding to the cheesy flavour of the parfait - I've never tasted anything like it before and am not sure I ever will be able to again. It was wonderful. 

The meal came to an end with Perthshire Strawberries, Strawberry gel, Meringues and Perthshire Lemon Verbena Ice Cream Drew managed to eat both of these that were served to us he liked the intensity the sauce brought out in the strawberries, making them even more like strawberries than the real thing.

We finished with coffee and Petit Fours these were Almond Madeleines, Chocolate and Rosemary Truffles.

Three special meals in three days and in terms of ambiance, service and inventiveness of the food on the tongue this comes first in the first two and equal first with the Northcote in the third. An excellent experience - not what will be my excuse to repeat it in the future? 


After dinner we walked around the lighted path on the hotels grounds for 1/2 an hour and got to bed by 11.30. A lovely, lovely evening.